Baling press with extensible and resilient needle driving means



Nov. 20, 1951 M, H, TUF-r BALING PRESS WITH EXTENSIBLE AND RESILJENT NEEDLE DRIVING MEANS Original Filed May 19, 1945 INV EN TOR A TT ORNE YS MILES H. TUFT Patented Nov. 20, 1951 BALING PRESS WITH EXTENS-IBLE AND RESILIENT NEEDLE DRIVING MEANS Miles H. Tuft, Huntington Park, Calif., assignor to Deere Manufacturing Co., a corporation of Original application May 19, 1945, Serial No. 594,684, now Patent No. 2,512,754, dated June 27, 1950. Divided and this application October 5, 1946, Serial No. 701,574

(Cl. 1D0-20) 5 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to baling presses and more particularly to presses of the type which have mechanism for automatically tying the bales. This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 594,684, filed May 19, 1945, which issued on June 27, i950-, as Patent No. 2,512,754.

The principal object of my invention relates to the provision of a novel and improved. automatic tying mechanism which is eic'ient and accurate in operation, but simple and durable in construction. According to the principles of my invention, the bales are bound byv wrapping' wire aroundthe latter', twisting the two ends of the wire' together to make the knot, then bending or kinking' the twisted portion of the wire, and severing the wire from the supply coils. Each bale is tied with two loops of wire, which are wrapped around the bale by means of a pair of needles which are inserted' through apertures in the bale case at the appropriate time and extend across the bale case to the wire twisting' and kinking mechanism at the opposite side.

Inasmuch as the kinking operation must be performed after the twisting is completed, it is evident that the needle holding the wire must be held stationary in tying position for a suflicient interval to permit the twisting and kinlring operations to be performed. Therefore, a further object of my invention relates to the provision of needle driving mechanism which provides for such an interval 'of time in which the needle is held st 'ationary.

In a wire tying mechanism, the needle does not have a sharp point as it does in a twine tying mechanism, but carries a short section of wire stretched across the end of the needle between a pair of spaced pulleys for' the purpose of sliding the section of wire into the twisting and kinking mechanism. Therefore, it is important that the movement 'of the needle and the b'aler plunger be synchronized in such a manner that the needle be inserted through the bale case at a time when there is no loose hay or other material to be baled in the path of the needle, which would be gathered by the needle and forced into the twisting mechanism, thereby adversely affecting the smooth operation of the mechanism. A further object of my invention therefore has to do with the provision of means for holding the loose hay or other material against the bale while the needle is being moved across the bale case. This is accomplished by providing slots in the working face of the plunger for receiving the needles, the latter being moved through the slots across the bale case while the plunger is in contact with the bale. Ob'- viously, the needle should not start to move into the bale case until the plunger has" cleared the loose' hay'from' th'e 'opening through which the needle is'inserted, and furthermore the needle should travel fast enough across the bale case so that it passes through the opposite wall into the twisting mechanism compartment before the plunger has receded far enough to allow the loose hay to spring back into the path of the needle. It is evident, therefore, that this requires extremely close timing of the needle actuating' mechanism, and also' requires that the needle be moved at a high rate of speed in order to pass completely through the bale case, all during the short length of time that the plunger is in contact with the material being'baled.

A further object of my invention relates to the provision of means by which a slightly greater interval of time can be obtained to move the needle through the bale case, thereby decreasing the possibility of. catching hay over the end of the needle and pressing it into the twist ing mechanism. In the accomplishment of this object I have providedY an extension along the edge of the plunger adjacentv the opening in the bale case through which` the needle isI inserted. As the plu-nger moves toward the bale this extension moves in advance of the workingface of the plunger, carrying the loose hay away from the end of the needleslightly earlier than` this would be done by the main body of the plunger, thereby permitting the needle to be inserted an instant earlier than would otherwise be possible, and providing a little more time in. which to` move the needle to the other side of the bale case before the plunger has receded.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the' following description, in which reference is had to the draw' ings appended hereto, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the top side of a portionv of a bale case, showing wire tying mechanism embodying the principles of my invention;

Figure 2 is an elevationalV View of theV bale ease and wire tying mechanism, with a portion of the side wall ofthe bale case broken away to show the construction of the b'aling plunger, and drawn to a. slightly smaller scale.r

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view o1' the working face of the plunger asV related to-4 tying mechanism which constitutes the present invention can be used with any conventional baling apparatus, except as hereinafter described. It is suicient to say that the plunger 22 slides through the bale case from right to left, as viewed in the drawings, to compress the hay or other material into a bale, the length of which is indicated by the broken line B. When the bale acquires the predetermined length B, as measured by a serrated measuring wheel 26, the latter initiates the operation of wire tying mechanism, indicated in its entirety by reference numeral 21, which securely binds the bale with a pair of baling wires and begins to form a new bale, which pushes the completed bale toward the left, as viewed in the drawings, discharging the completed bales from the discharge end (not shown) at the left end of the bale case.

Cooperating with the tying mechanism 21 is a pair of needles 30, which are rigidly fixed by clamps 3| in laterally spaced relation on a bail 32, which extends transversely beneath the bale case 2| and is provided with a pair of upwardly extending arms 33, which are pivotally connected by a pair of coaxially disposed trunnions 34 to brackets 35 xed to the two side walls 24 of the bale case, respectively. In Figure 2, the needles 30 and their supporting. arms 33 are shown in solid lines in their inactive position with the needles retracted from the bale case 2 l, and in dotted lines in their tying position, with the needles 30 inserted through the bale case into tying position in cooperative relation with the tying mechanism 21. As best shown in Figure 3, the bottom wall 28 of the bale case is provided with a pair of slots or openings 36 through which the needles 30 are projected and withdrawn.

' 'I'he wire for each bale tie is fed from a pair of coils of wire 85, 8S above and below the bale case 2 I, respectively. Hence, since there are two bale ties applied to each bale, there are two upper wires 81 extending from the two upper coils 85 and two spaced lower wires 80 extending from the two lower coils 86. Each of the coils 85, 88 is supported within a generally rectangular container 89 provided with a centrally disposed aperture in one side thereof, through which the wire is drawn. Each of the upper wires 81 extends longitudinally above the bale case 2| and over a suitably grooved sheave 92, journaled in a bracket 94. The wire passes downwardly over the sheave 92 and under a lower sheave 99 journaled in the lower portion of the bracket S4, then passes through the tying and kinkingmechanism 21, as explained in detail in my above-mentioned co-pending application. The wire 81 then extends longitudinally through the bale case over the top of the bale B toa knot |05 at the upper left hand corner of the bale, by which the wire 81 is connected to the lower wire 88.

The lower wire 88 is drawn from the coil 86 in the container 89 beneath the bale case 2| and extends around a grooved sheave |06 journaled on a bracket |01 that is bolted to the underside of the bale case 2|. The wire 88 extends downwardly from the sheave |06 and under another sheave |08 iournaled at thelower endof the needle 30.

Passing under the sheave |08 the wire 88 extendsA upwardly along the needle 30 and over a pair of grooved sheaves |09, ||0, which are journaled in the upper end of the needle 30 on a pair of ngers ||2, respectively, projecting upwardly at the upper end of the needle. The wire 88 extends longitudinally under the bale imm im? 4 sheave 0 and upwardly along the far end of the bale to the knot |05.

After the knot |05 is tied at the time of securing the previous bale, the wires 81, 88 extend downwardly from the tying mechanism 21 through the bale case 2| to the needle 30, in a substantially vertical position. The plunger 22 forces the hay or other crop material against the end of the previously formed bale, gradually increasing the size of the bale being formed, and forcing the latter and also the previous bale toward the left, as viewed in the drawings. Inasmuch as the wires 81, 38 extend downwardly between the bales they are forced along the bale case with the bales, drawing the wires of the coils 85, 86 as the bale is formed. When the bale reaches the predetermined length as measured by the measuring wheel 26, the tying mechanism is set into action by tripping mechanism which will be described later, causing the needle supporting bail 32 to swing upwardly in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot axis 34, to the tying position, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, thus bringing the short length of the lower wire 88 between the two sheaves |09, |||l into juxtaposition with a length of the upper wire 81, and the two lengths of wire are engaged by the wire twisting mechanism and twisted together, The twisted section is severed in the center thereof, thereby completing the tying of the bale and at the same time leaving a new knot |05 which ties the upper and lower wires 81, 88 together. Inasmuch as the mechanism for completing the tying operation is not an essential part of the present invention, it will not be repeated herein in detail, but reference may be had for a full description thereof to my patent. After the knot is severed, the needle 30 is withdrawn downwardly through the bale case and a new bale is started by subsequent reciprocation of the plunger head 22,

It is necessary to accurately synchronize, in any well known manner the movement of the needle 30 with the movement of the plunger` 22 in order that there will be no interference between them which would cause damage to the needle or other parts of the mechanism. Obviously, it is necessary that the needle be inserted through the bale case at a time when there is no hay in the path of the needles, for otherwise the hay would be gathered on the ends of the needles and forced into the tying mechanism 21 on top of the bale case. Entry of the needles across the ball case while the plunger is compressing the hay is accomplished by providing vertically extending slots I5 in the working face of the plunger 22. The slots 5 are sufficiently large to permit passage upwardly of the two needles 30, but each slot is also narrow enough that they do not accumulate crop material therein as the plunger compresses the material into the bale. Thus, the needles must be inserted through the bale case 2l during the short interval of time that the slots |5 are in alignment with the paths of the needles 30 through the openings 36 in the ball case bottom f 28, and the upper ends of the needles must pass through the upper wall of the bale case 2| into the tying mechanism 21 before the plunger has withdrawn from the paths of the needles. By providing an extension on the lower end of the plunger in the form of a ridge or block I6, I have improved this situation by slightly increasing the amount of available time in which to move the needle through the bale case. The extension block is also slotted at I|1 (Figure 3) to provide slots in line with the plunger head slots ||5, so

asoman that. by moving; over,I the needles. ahead; of; the main portion of the plunger head 22, thewloose.

`or othercropis pushed aside, therebyry permitting the needles to be startedfon their move-l ment across the bale case.- slightly earlier than ify the; extension block is not present.. By starting; the ulgavarctV movement of theneedles slightly earlier, the upper ends of the same reachthe topl of. the bale case before the plunger 22 vhas with dra-wn from the needles.

Theentire wire tying mechanismV 21 including. thee needles: 30 are actuated by-power transmitted through: a shaft |120-,l which extends transversely across4 the topI of the bale case 2|- and=jo1m naled at one endin a .bearing 12|; mounted on standards; |22 which are bolted tothe top ct the base case, and journaledf in the other end; in.- a bearing |23, which is supported on a vertically disposed: longitudinally extending supporting, plate |24- hav-ing a horizontal flange |25 whicnis xed; to the top of the vbale case 2|. A pair of crank arms |25: are fixed to the opposite ends of the shaft |20, respectively, the outer ends of. each of the arms |25- being connected with the armsv 33 of the bail member 32 by means-.of a link .member |2f1 in the form oi a helical tension spring. Each end of the spring. |21- is. provided with a fitting |28 attached. thereto, which is` journaled on a pivot and crank pin |29. One of the crank pins |12 9, is .nxed to thevouter end of the. crank arm |26 and the other pivot pin is secured to a lug fixed to the needle supporting armv 33.. Thus, .one revolution of the, sha-ft |20 swings the crank .arms L28 at eachrend thereof in a complete revolution, which acts` through the` spring links |21 toi-aise and lower the needle supporting arms 33, thereby causing the needles 30 to be moved-upwardly through. the bale case 2| and returned totheir inactive position.

Obviously, however, the needles 30 must bef' held in tying position for a sufcient interval of time to enable the tying mechanism to twist the wires together to make the knot, thenkink'the two portions of the knot and severthe wires at the center of, the twisted portions. This interval of time in which the needles. .are held stationary is obtained. by making the arms |25 and links |21 of suchlength that the needles will be raised to their. tying position` appreciably before the shaft |20 This. position isv indicated in dotted lines. in Fig.- ure 2, in which the transverse portion of the bail 32 has engaged a resilient bumper or stop- |35 on the bottom of the bale case. This requiresqa movementof the arm. |25, of. approximately` ninety. degrees or less. Further rotation ot theshat. t2 0..causes. the arm |26: to stretch; the spring. |21, thereby holding the baily 32 against-thestop |35 and.Y thus holding the needles 3.0; their ty ing posit-ion, while the shaft |-2llmakesapproximately one-half revolutionor. slightlyl moreafter which the needle-supporting bail 32 is turned to the inactive position shown in Figure 2. The period of time during which. the shaft rotates through approximately 180 degrees,` with, the needle 30 in tying position, is ample for the tying mechanism 21 to make the twist and kink and sever the twisted portion.

The twisting mechanism is driven through a drive shaft 41 on which is. mounted a beveled pinion |30, which is adapted to` mesh with a. gear segment |311- of a beveled gear, the gear segment being mounted on a disk |3-8f carried on a hub 138;,Whic`rr is rigidly fixed on thel shaftwlL-Zf by? means of a.. key or other suitableI means. AL-.hnb

has made. one-half revolution.. r

s, lai-.l xisixed* tothe vshaft 4,1. and4 is. provided. with @comming lobe; 1x42, which slida-bly bears against thezdiskg 1| 38: during the` `first portion of the` revolii-tiem ofi the shaft |20, `preventing any roi-.a1 tionrof4 the bevel: gear |f3-6|ordrive shaft 41. Thus, during: the first approximately degreesl `oi movement of the sha-ft |20, in whichthe needle is; beingg lraised 'totying position, the camming: lobe H12A sliding Aon the face of the disk |38 holding: :the: beveled pinion |36 aga-inst rotation butlthez disk |38 is cut away Yadjacent theV seg-A mentioccnpiedzby the gear segment |31, so that when Athe latter engages the beveled pinion |36. the; cammina; lobey is; disengaged from the face ofA Athe disk and is free to rotate with the pinion-|38. Theogeafr-segment St'eXt-ends over approximately ninetyy degrees; of the. disk. |38, and the relative diameterstof. the beveled, gear |31' and pinion |36 provides; for-exactly one revolution of. the pinion- |38 and shaft 41, whereupon the gear segment; |:3..,'| .upon further rotary movement of the diskV |303 disengages` the pinion |38, and at the same time thercamming lobe |42 engages the disk |38; once more toholdtthe pinion |36: against further 'f rotation..

'lhefpower for. turning the shaft |2ft through. onemevol-ution to. actuate the tying mechanism-.is transmitted through a one-revolution,self-interrupting clutch device |10; comprising a continu- I ouslv rotatingv elementl` |1'| having, sprocket teeth |121 around the circumference thereof., and which is carried on'y a hub |13l journaled on the'I shaft |201 The normally stationary element of the clutch mechanism comprises the shaft |20 and thefarm |26'rig-idly mounted thereon, and which lies over. the open side of the normally'rotatingr member |;'.l.|;. The clutch mechanism is not described; herein in; detail, .but is actuated by a trip armi |82 which isl mounted on a shaft |83, they latter being rockably supported for movement aboutanaxisparallel to the shaft |20 and spaced therefrom The clutch member |11; is driven at a-.conStaI-Itspeed by a` drive chain |84 which is' trained.. around the sprocket teeth |12- and extends to a; suitable, drive. sprocket (not shown) winch. driven by the shaft which drives the plunger-:22; An idler sprocket |85 is journaled onan bolt, |:'||1,-whichI is. securedv in verticaly adjusted. position inlaslot |:8-1 inthe plate |24, for the purpose of adjusting` thev slack in the drive chain |84. The chain |84 drives the sprocket; |152 in a clockwise direction, as viewedy in'` Figure 2, and whenl the; trip-arm |82 is swung downwardly in a clockwise-direction to-A trip the clutch mechanism,

. the-latter-connects the rotating member |1| with the shaft |20, turning the latter in a. complete revolution.l after which the clutch disengages the shaotV in; a mannerl well known to those skilled inthe art.

The shaft |83 extends through a sleeve 205., whiehis, rotatable thereon, and the end of theshaft |83 is jpurnaledin a bearing 206 in the form of an aperturedplate secured to the top of the bale case.. Thel opposite end of the shaft |83 is journaled within an aperture. in-.thef vertical plate |24.. 'Ihefsleeve 2-05carries theserratedmeasur ingI wheel 2161,. which projects throughv a slot 2-0-1 inthe top of the bale case. with,A the teeth of thewheeL 2lir in engagement: with the bale beingformed.. A-.helical spring; 20er is coiledl about the wheel; supporting sleeve 24.35 between. a lug; 20,9` welded to thesleeve Maand a collar 210 iixed to the snai-|1183 by a pin 2- t. The-endet the: spring.

reotion, as indicauredA at 2| 5.., ingregister with the lug 209, so that rotation of the wheel 26 rotates the lug 209 into engagement with the end 2|5 of the spring. The opposite end of the spring is extended tangentially outwardly and has an outer` end 2|G turned axially and is adapted to engage a trip plate 2li. The trip plate 2|1 is mounted on a supporting pin 2|9 journaled on a casting 22| which is mounted on the shaft |83. The plate 2|`| is held in a position in which it can be engaged by the end 2| 6 of the spring 208, by means of a helical torsion spring 225, which is yieldable when the self-interrupting clutch drives the arm |26 into engagement with the trip plate 2|1 to disengage the latter from the end 2|6 of the spring 208.

During the baling operation, the bales move tward the left, gradually rotating the measuring wheel 26 in a clockwise direction, thereby rotating the sleeve 205 relative to the shaft |83. By the time the wheel 29 has made nearly a complete revolution, the lug 209 on the sleeve 205 moves into engagement with one end 2|5 of the spring 208, while the other end 2|6 of the spring 208 moves into engagement with the trip plate 2I1. Further rotation of the wheel 2B and sleeve 205 exerts a force through the lug 209 stressing the spring 208 in torsion and exerting a force against the trip plate 2H which tends to swing the arm |82 and shaft |83 in a clockwise direction, which is resisted by a spring |9 connected between the arm |82 and plate |24 to hold the arm |82 in engagement with the clutch mechanism to hold the latter in disengaged position. Movement of the wheel 26, however, builds up a torsional stress in the spring 208 which finally overcomes the tension spring |9|, causing the arm |82 to be disengaged from the clutch mechanism, thereby permitting the clutch to become engaged to drive the shaft |20 and arm |29 from the drive chain |84. The arm |26 swings upwardly, engaging the trip plate 2 1 and disengaging the latter from the end 2118 of the spring 208, thereby causing theV latter to contract and snap past the trip plate 2| 1, after which a complete revolution of the measuring wheel 26 is required before the trip arm |82 can be again disengaged. This action of the trip plate and spring 208 insures that the tying mechanism will actuate only once, regardless of Whether or not the measuring wheel 26 has anymovement during the rotation of the clutch.

I claim:

1. In a baling press, the combination of tying mechanism, a needle, a rotatable power transinitting shaft connected to drive said mechanism, an arm xed to said shaft, a pivotally supported arm on which said needle is mounted, link means connecting said arms, said link means being `extensible, and stop means for arresting the movement of said needle carrying arm in a tying position before the power shaft arm has reached its extreme position, whereby 'said link means is extended during the tying operation;

said needle carrying arm in a tying position before the power shaft arm has reached its extreme position, whereby said resilient' means is' extended during the tying operation, therebyk providing an interval in which the needle is held stationary for tying purposes.

3. In a baling press, the combination of tying mechanism, a, needle, a rotatable power transmitting shaft connected to drive said mechanism, an arm xed to said shaft, a pivotally supported arm on which said needle is mounted, link means connecting said arms to swing said needle carrying arm from an inactive position in which said power shaft arm and said link means are in dead center aiignment to a tying position in which said power shaft arm and said link means are approaching dead center alignment, said po'wer shaft arm moving through less than degrees between said positions, and stop means for arresting movement of said needle carrying arm in said tying position, said link means including a coil spring, the length of which changes as said power shaft arm swings through dead center alignment therewith at 180 degrees of movement, thereby providing an interval in which the needle is held stationary for tying purposes.

4. In a baling press, the combination of tying mechanism, a needle, a rotatable power transmitting shaft connected to drive said mechanism, an arm fixed to said shaft, a pivotally supported arm on which said needle is mounted, link means connecting said arms to swing said needle carrying arm from an inactive position in which said power shaft arm and said link means are in dead center extended alignment to a tying position in which said power shaft arm and said link means are approaching dead center overlapping alignment, said power shaft arm moving through less than 180 degrees between said positions, and stop means for arresting movement of said needle carrying arm in said tying position, said link means including a helical tension spring which extends in length to accommodate movement of said power shaft arm through said overlapping dead center alignment, thereby providing an interval in which the needle is held stationary for tying purposes.

5. In a baling press or the like having tying mechanism and driving means therefor, the combination therewith of a needle movable normally in a iirst complete stroke toward and ending at the tying mechanism and in a return stroke -away from the tying mechanism; a drive member connected to the driving means and operat-A REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,053,397 Jackson Feb. 18, 1913 1,075,376 Pearson et al Oct. 14, 1913 1,726,229 LKantor Aug. 27, 1929 2,446,878 Kaupke et al Aug. 10, 1948 2,485,001 Kane Oct. 18, 1949 2,497,641 Vutz Feb. 14, 1950- 

